(57) The textiles are washed in a cleaning fluid in the form of a microemulsion of water in perchloroethylene having as its principal ingredients the following: perchloroethylene 65-93.8 percent by weight; emulsifier 2-6 percent by weight; solubilizing agent 0.2-4 percent by weight, and water 4-20 percent by weight, with the ratio of the weight of the water to the weight of the emulsifier being in excess of 2:1. The emulsifier contains of a mixture of

a) a calcium salt of an alkyl-aryl-sulphonic acid with a total of 14-22 carbon atoms; and

b) a non-ionic surface-active alkylene oxide adduct, in which the alkylene oxide is in the form of ethylene oxide or a combination of ethylene oxide and alkylene oxide with 3-4 carbon atoms, and in which the hydrophobic part of the adduct contains 8-30 carbon atoms,

with the ratio of the weight of a) to the weight of b) lying in the range 1:4-3:1. The solubilizing agents is an aliphatic monoalcohol with 4-10 carbon atoms.